SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Three weeks ago, West Virginia was riding high in the tough Big East and Syracuse was rapidly becoming an afterthought.

The teams met Monday night, and their courses have reversed.

Terrence Roberts broke out of a three-game slump with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Syracuse to a 60-58 victory over the 14th-ranked Mountaineers.

After winning its first eight conference games, West Virginia (18-8) has lost four of five. The Mountaineers dropped into a tie for third place with No. 9 Pittsburgh at 9-4, one game ahead of Marquette and No. 23 Georgetown.

Suddenly, the first-round bye in the Big East tournament that goes to the top four teams doesn't seem like such a sure bet anymore. The Mountaineers, who have played four of their last five games on the road, close the regular season with home games against Louisville and Pitt and a road game at resurgent Cincinnati.

"We just couldn't get over the hump. That's just the way it goes," said West Virginia coach John Beilein, who dropped to 0-8 in his career against Syracuse. "We'll learn something from it."

It was the first win this season over a ranked team for Syracuse (19-9, 7-6), the defending Big East champion. The Orange, who had been reeling with five losses in six games, have won three of four to ease their worries somewhat about securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

"It was the biggest win so far this year," said senior guard Gerry McNamara, who struggled with five points on 2-of-14 shooting. He had nine assists and the one 3-pointer he made gave him 372 for his career, ninth in NCAA history. "In the second half, we just shut them down."

Roberts, who had given the Orange a 58-55 lead with a dunk over Kevin Pittsnogle, took a feed from McNamara and hit a hook in the lane with 2:25 remaining for what turned out to be the winning basket.

"When we play as physical and as active and energetic as we were, it's hard to stop us," said the 6-foot-9 Roberts, who had a total of 10 points and 12 rebounds in the three previous games. "Everyone was so calm and patient. We knew we could get whatever we wanted."

Eric Devendorf had 17 points and 6-11 center Darryl Watkins had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Orange, who scored 34 points in the paint.

West Virginia came in averaging over 72 points per game and were second in the NCAA averaging 10 3-pointers per game. The Mountaineers went 12-for-33 from long range, but the ball didn't fall when it counted most.

After Pittsnogle hit a 3 to tie it at 58-all with 3:57 left, he missed twice, Mike Gansey missed another, Joe Herber committed a turnover, and Patrick Beilein missed from way behind the 3-point line as the Syracuse zone stretched the shooters on the perimeter.

"They were causing havoc," said Beilein, who scored all 18 of his points on 3-pointers but went only 1-of-3 from beyond the arc in the second half. "They were really extended. We just got mixed up on what we were running, which caused us to panic a little bit. It was a deep shot I had to take."

"They weren't going to give us a 3," John Beilein said. "We should have put it inside, but nobody was there."

The one time the Mountaineers tried, Herber couldn't handle a hard pass from Pittsnogle, and it slithered through his hands out of bounds under the basket for a critical turnover with 72 seconds remaining.

"The last two possessions we did not do what we wanted to do," John Beilein said. "We were running a certain pattern, and one time we got confused. It just takes one person to get confused, and it throws everybody off."

Pittsnogle led West Virginia with 20 points, but Gansey, who was 5-of-6 on 3-pointers in a home loss to Connecticut on Saturday, missed all six of his shots from long range against the Orange and finished with eight points.

The Orange were coming off an important 79-66 home win over Louisville.

"The last two games we've played as well as we have all year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We just want to keep playing well. We've been there (in the NCAA tournament) before. We've got veteran guys that know what to do. I think our league is making everybody a dangerous team it's so deep."

Adam Morrison scored 26 points and J.P. Batista had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulldogs (23-3, 12-0) won their 14th straight game, matching No. 6 George Washington for the longest streak in the nation.Gonzaga clinched its sixth straight West Coast Conference regular-season title when Loyola Marymount lost to Portland earlier Monday. The Bulldogs have won 21 consecutive conference games.Tashaan Forehan-Kelly had 25 points for Pepperdine (7-17, 3-9), which has lost five straight overall and 10 in a row to Gonzaga.

Kevin Bookout tipped in a rebound with 4.5 seconds left to play, the only field goal for the Sooners (18-6, 9-4 Big 12) in the final 8 minutes.Michael Neal had 18 points for Oklahoma, while Jarrius Jackson led Texas Tech (14-13, 6-7) with 27.Jackson's 3-pointer with 1:30 left wiped out a 10-point deficit and brought the Red Raiders into a tie at 68. Texas Tech led 70-68 when Oklahoma grabbed the rebound of a missed shot and called a timeout with 23 seconds left. Terrell Everett dribbled down the clock before driving for a jumper in the lane that bounced off the rim before Bookout converted the rebound and finished with 12 points.Jackson missed a final shot for the Red Raiders, who were outrebounded 45-24.

Nick Fazekas had 26 points and 15 rebounds and the Wolf Pack (21-5, 10-3 Western Athletic Conference) won their eighth straight on the day they returned to the Top 25 after being out of the rankings for seven weeks.Tanoris Shepherd had 18 points for the Vandals (4-19, 1-10), who have lost four in a row and 13 of 14.